I Think I Might Have Kicked The Drug Called Sugar
7th day and counting.
There are some who have likened the addictive qualities of sugar to that of cocaine. Having never snorted the latter (or the former for that matter), I have no means of comparison. There are many reports to back up the addictive nature of sugar with a number of experts of the opinion that sugar is the more addictive of the two products.
I have long had a sweet tooth and I can blame that love of sugar in part to growing up in New Zealand and the country’s love of all things sweet. (Heard of Pavlova?) Of the many reports on the internet on the Kiwi’s love of sugar, the following article indicates they consume sugar at levels in excess of the World Health Organization guidelines. One study indicates 58% of New Zealand adults consume more than ten percent of their daily calories from free sugar. A whopping 88% consume far more than the WHO’s conditional maximum recommendation of five percent of daily calories per day.
There are many issues associated with high sugar consumption, not the least being diabetes. Following closely behind diabetes and just as problematic and related are childhood and adult obesity, hypertension, Crohn’s disease, metabolic disease, depression, cognitive decline, high cholesterol, colon cancer, and last but not least, dental cavities.
